posted October 18, 201609:18 PM
I have been blessed beyond measure this year so far. The best parts have been what is not pictured in this thread...but since we all love to see harvest photos...here we go:

I used a TallTines bow 56@28" and grizzly single bevel heads with a 525 grain arrow. The bear measured 5'11" and as this was my first bear I'm tickled to death and hooked on spring bears.

Went on to hunt Elk in Colorado and got a bull nearly the last day of the trip.The entire experience was amazing: The high country mountains, rivers, forests...The rain, snow, sunshine...warmth and cold...The comfort and pain...blisters, bruises, gasps for oxygen...and a clean kill that gave a merciful death.

On this trip I used my TallTines recurve with my 62 pound limbs. I was shooting a 570 gr. gold tip .300 spine arrow and 250 grizzly single bevel.Ok so the story: Day 1:I hiked in and set up camp the day before opening.Day 2:Opening day was exciting as I still hunted and hiked the north and south side of a canyon and had 2 really close encounters and stalked 40-50 yards away before the elk essentially walked away from me and out of my life. Day 3: Nada except lots of mule deer Day 4: Nada but Had some wonderful encounters with other wildlife.Day 5: Saw some mule deer and had a great encounter with a nice buck, late in the evening got about 45 yards for broadside cow before she walked out of my life.Day 6: Regroup, pack back down the mountian and head to another areaDay 7: Nada for me but saw nearly 30 mule deer and had a good dayDay 8: hunted all morning without luck stopped for lunch and then in the afternoon decided to sit on the waterhole/wallow. At about 7 o'clock in the evening a cow and calf stepped out of the woods followed by my bull. I sat motionless with the downhill thermals being perfect and the cow and calf started to wander off as my bull came in. I mewed to stop him in about 25 yards broadside but because of the poor position I didn't reach my full draw length and shot just a few inches low. The bull ran off into the thick brush and I lost sight of him almost immediately although I had just enough time to see my fletching sticking out of the entrance wound. I thought I heard a crash but wasn't sure and follow the blood for a few yards before deciding to back out until the next morning. Day 9: after a virtually sleepless night I took up the trail of my bull in daybreak and found him within 20 minutes. He had only gone 50 to 70 yards. The shot have been slightly low although not bad but the grizzly Single bevel head had angled up into the chest coming out perfectly centered in the exit. I took a few moments to take it all in and get some pictures before starting the skinning and quartering. My buddies Gabe and Travis were a huge help with the pack out which took two trips.

I learned a lot on this hunt, one of the most important things I learned is the value of stand/ambush techniques for hunting elk. I spent days of running all over the mountains and failing to get within 40 yards but having good success getting 40-60 yards. I wouldn't shoot at with traditional equipment.These calling/run and gun techniques work well for compound shooters who are able to take 40 to 60 yard shots with ease. Between this trip and last season I had a total of seven solid shot opportunities between 40 and 60 yards on bulls and cows alike. Unfortunately I need a shot at 40 yards or less as most other traditional shooters. Because of this I will not be using standard techniques anymore for elk but will focus on ambush techniques and I would recommend other traditional archers do the same.

posted October 18, 201609:23 PM
I drew a Kansas to tag and hunted and scouted hard when I got back from elk. I mostly just got eaten alive by chiggers but November is coming and I have some good spots so far.

October 1 I be-bopped over to my home state, Oklahoma to hunt opening week there and scored on an old doe at around 7pm from about 20ish yards using TallTines recurve @62# and grizzly broadheads, 570gr GT arrowPosts: 2584 | From: Tulsa, Oklahoma | Registered: Nov 2008
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posted October 18, 201609:25 PM
I had a great close counter with a massive buck the next week in Oklahoma but got pushed out of one of my best public areas because of crowds...i'm looking forward to hunting Kansas especially hard in November and Oklahoma when I can.

Also got a doe kill on film and accidentally shot a spike the next morning thinking it was a doe at first lightHere is the YouTube video https://youtu.be/rNJYd03fllk

November 25th this doe came in walking straight towards me while ground hunting a new spot and I took a frontal shot at about 8 yards, she went 60 yards and left a profuse bloodtrail. It's not a shot I would take on a whitetail from a tree or at any distance beyond 12-15 yards but if it is placed properly with the right arrow/broad head it is pretty deadly.This will be the 3rd whitetail I've taken with this shot and none of them have made it over 70 yards
Posts: 2584 | From: Tulsa, Oklahoma | Registered: Nov 2008
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posted November 01, 201606:49 PM
Interesting, the same grizzly broadhead has been used to kill the bear, elk, and Kansas buck with. Unfortunately I lost it after missing a coyote in early November Posts: 2584 | From: Tulsa, Oklahoma | Registered: Nov 2008
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posted November 11, 201609:08 PM
Turkeys have been that one species I can't close the deal on for several years. At least with traditional/archery equipment. That changed today, I shot what appears to be a Jake.

As I found it:

I was heading out from a deer hunt, a frustrating one at that! I'm going to make a separate post on this topic. As I was walking out I heard some clucks and hunkered down...I continued hearing turkey noises so I snuck up the draw and peaked my head over the top, a whole flock of turkeys! They were headed over the rise too. I waited until one of them present of the shot and couldn't be more happy!

I have been blessed enough this year to now harvest three new species with my tradbow
Posts: 2584 | From: Tulsa, Oklahoma | Registered: Nov 2008
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